Sold
by Der Traumer
Summary: Gene and Jim are broke...again. But their latest job ends Jim raped and Gene with a really guilty conscience. Now can he deal with his guilt and the wrath of his comrades?


Hey, I know posted this once already really fast and deleted it. I managed to not save while I was proofreading, and posted the wrong copy. Sry! Oh, and for those of you reading Blossoms, this has not interupted that in anyway, I wrote it a while ago. Please read and review!

Disclaimers: like I need to tell you???****

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**Sold**

By: Der Traumer

"I don't think Jim should have anything to do with this, Gene," I added to the conversation without being invited. "You're the one that spends the money so recklessly." I paused a moment, "Besides, what are a few extra lays...for money...to you?"

"I don't 'lay,'" he snapped indignantly, "I make love. There is a difference. And I don't stoop so low as to charge."

"Yeah, but I bet you would given the chance," Jim added pointedly.

"Shut up!" Gene snapped and turned back to me. "And you heard already, who the hell is going to 'buy' me, since we're up for using harsh terms here? Jim'd sell better. I bet there are plenty of perverts out there who would be just..."

I cut him off. "Shut up, Gene! That's all the fucking more reason not to." I slid an arm around Jim's shoulders, aware of the little guy's almost green face beside me. "You'd really let them play out all their perverted fantasies on your partner?" Jim shuddered and I put my other arm around him protectively.

"I'm just saying that he'd sell better. And I don't see you volunteering, so..." he left the sentence hanging.

I flushed angrily, "You son of a bitch," I snapped, "Don't you drag me into this. It was your idea, not mine."

"Fine. But regardless of whose idea it was, we need money and due to lack of a job for bounty hunters, and the fact that our shop is destroyed, this is the only option left. I'm just saying the more bodies we have the more cash we bring in."

I almost gagged at the bluntness of the statement. "What the hell happened to waiting until you made it big?"

"That won't feed us now," Jim answered quietly. "Fine then, Gene, I'll do it, on one condition. You don't nag Kori into it. It's dangerous now-a-days for a girl to sell herself. You know that too; most men are abusive."

Gene was silent, knowing Jim was right about that.

I was not. "Jim, no you can't. Think about what you're saying. You're a child. I won't let you! Jim!" I knew he wouldn't change his mind, and I turned to glare at Gene to show my disapproval.

XxXxX

There was a quiet knock on Gene's door. It was late, but Gene knew who it was. He stood and opened the door, bidding Kori in. "I know what you're here to say, you know."

She nodded, "But I have to say it anyway." She sat on the bed and Gene sat beside her. "He's scared, Gene. God, he's terrified. He asks me questions and I don't know how to answer them. He's a virgin and you're...we're...letting him do this." A tear slipped from her eye and she tried to wipe it away without him seeing it.

"I'm going too; if it makes you feel better."

She looked up at him and nodded slightly. "You'll watch out for him, right? Don't let anyone take him that you think will hurt him." Her voice dropped to a whisper, "Even though he'll be hurt no matter what."

"Kori, look at me," he said softly. She did and her eyes were glazed over. He brushed his lips over her forehead. "I promise I'll look after him. As long as my name's Gene Starwind, I'll watch out for him. Okay?" He put his arms around her shoulders and she rested her head on his chest.

"Thank you," she breathed.

Gene didn't reply. He just held her close and wondered how the friendship between her and Jim had become that strong in hardly two weeks.

XxXxX

All I could do was hope as they walked into the club. I sat in the car watching them until they disappeared into the sea of bodies within. Jim was a child, eleven I think he told me once. To think he had to lose his innocence here, in a place like this, made me want to cry or gag or both. Part of me wanted to run in and catch him in my arms, telling him he didn't have to, and yet...

I couldn't think about it, so I put the car in reverse and drove back to the apartment. When I got there my only company was Gene's stash of liquor, hidden under his bed where he thought no one would find it.

XxXxX

Jim shivered. The fishnet shirt didn't do much for keeping him warm. He wrapped his arms around his knees and curled up on the bench. He was so cold. Desperately he wished that maybe no one could see him curled up as he was in the booth.

Gene came back. He was already drunk, not really to Jim's surprise. A person like Gene met situations like this by drinking a lot. There was a woman with him. She was wearing a skimpy red dress and was about Gene's age give or take. Gene had found his partner. He dropped some coins on the table and Jim absently picked them up. "Seya in the morning," he muttered after his drunken partner.

"Damn you," Jim hissed under his breath after Gene had gone. He had hoped Gene would at least stick around to watch out for him until he found a "buyer." He'd even made the mistake of hoping he might even stay somber.

A man in a black suit walked up to the table and Jim straightened.

"You're for sale, right?" he asked, looking Jim over.

"Yes," Jim answered, swallowing hard.

"Good. Come with me."

Jim stood and followed behind him, but the man waited patiently for him to walk beside him. "My name is Rob," he introduced and slid an arm around Jim's waist, reaching down a little to grab his ass.

XxXxX

As he walked out with his arm around the girl, he looked back to see a man in a black suit walk up to Jim. Remembering his promise to Kori, he thought to go back and ask a few questions to the man who intended to "buy" his partner. The girl grabbed his crotch, and he decided it wasn't worth it.

XxXxX

Jim wanted to cry. And now he wished more than ever he had let Kori continue to stick up for him. She could have gotten him out of this.

He let himself be led up the stairs to the rooms that were in the back of the bar for this exact purpose. The man walked to the last door on the right. Loud music and drunken shouts were coming through the door.

_No, _Jim prayed, _No, please not more than one. Oh God._

Rob opened the door. Jim wanted to scream. Five men sat around a table playing cards. Drink bottles were everywhere. None of the men appeared somber, other than the one who had brought Jim here. He involuntarily took a step back, but Rob's arm was still around his waist.

"I brought him," Rob said. "And you guys owe me for staying somber enough to get him to come up here."

Jim wanted to cry, and he felt tears pulling behind his eyes threatening to flow out at any time.

The men at the table turned one at a time to see their entertainment for the evening. Animalistic lust gleamed in each of their eyes and Jim again backed up. Rob was no longer next to him, but he had backed himself against the wall which was almost as bad.

"Since I won the last hand, I get him first," a middle-aged man with graying hair stated with a drunken slur. He walked over to Jim and traced his way down his body with one hand, the other working to get his pants undone.

_No, _Jim wanted to scream, _No get away from me!_ He wished desperately that Kori would burst in at any moment and wrap him in her arms and carry him home.

The man reached down and grabbed him, flexing his fingers.

Jim bit his lip to keep from crying out.

XxXxX

When Sazuka came home late that night she saw there was still a light on. Kori was the only one home and she was normally in bed at the hour. With a start Sazuka realized the light came from Gene's room. Gene was out "working" tonight for the first time, so he shouldn't be here. Sword drawn Sazuka made her way toward the open door.

What she saw made her flinch and she put her sword away. Kori sat on the floor, bottle in one hand and several others littering the floor. Her face was flushed from drink and her eyes were swollen from crying.

"Kori, what's wrong?"

"I'm an idiot," she muttered. Despite the obvious fact that she had drank a good deal she was still sane and her voice held no drunken slur.

"Why?" Sazuka asked, unsure whether to try and talk to her or leave her to wallow.

"I shouldn't have let him go." Her voice was quiet, but still clear of drunken slur. "He's eleven, goddammit, Sazuka!" A hint of a slur could be heard as she raised her voice. "He's so young and I let him go off and lose his innocence. Dammit, this is all my fault!" She sprung to her feet and started toward the door, grabbing a handgun that Gene left on his nightstand on her way.

"Oh, no you don't," Sazuka scrambled to her feet. She grabbed Kori before she stumbled down the stairs.

"Let me go!" she tore away from her. "I'm going to find him!"

"Stop it, Kori and think about what you're saying!" Sazuka grabbed her arm again. "It's late. He's probably already been taken. It's too late!"

"No, it's not!" she snarled, trying again to pull away, but failing. "I can still get to him!"

"And do what?" Sazuka asked coolly. "You gonna tell his customer that you changed your mind about letting him come and expect him to just hand Jim over? Or is that what the gun is for?" she gestured at the weapon with one hand.

Kori stopped struggling and thought. Then she started to sob again, falling to her knees despite Sazuka's grip on her arm. "It is too late!" she sobbed. "What kind of a friend am I, Sazuka, letting him get into this? I shouldn't have let him go. It's all my fault."

Sazuka slapped her across her face. Kori stared dumbly at her. "What?"

"It's not your fault. Despite all odds he chose to go, nobody forced him. All you can do is hope he's okay. That's all any friend could do," she spoke softly.

After continuing to sob for several more minutes Kori collapsed drained from all her tears and worry. Sazuka carried her to her room, awed by the seventeen-year-old's emotional ness.

XxXxX

I awoke with a bit of a hangover, but I ignored it. The events of last night were all a blur. I remembered dropping Jim and Gene off and then coming home and a lot of alcohol. And there was some yelling and screaming and someone carried me to bed, but that was all I could recollect.

"Kori, I made breakfast!" Melfina called from the bottom of the stairs.

"Thanks, Mel, but I gotta get going. I'll eat when I get back!" I called changing shirts and making my way downstairs.

I hopped in the car and practically sped down the highway to the club I had dropped Jim and Gene off at last night.

I leapt out of the car without bothering to turn it off and shoved the door open. It was empty but for the bar tender who was cleaning glasses, because of the early hour.

"Hi, miss, can I help you?" he asked friendlily and put down the glass he was cleaning.

"I'm looking for Jim and Gene. They were..." I struggled for the word, "Working here last night."

The bar tender's face went pale. "So you're the one he was calling for."

Panic struck me. "Oh, my God, what do you mean?" I asked. "Who was calling? Jim? Where the hell is Gene?"

The bar tender remained calm. "Your friend Gene left here last night with a pretty little thing on his arm; hasn't come back. But the little guy..." he stopped, "Come with me."

I followed him and as we walked down the dim hallway he continued to speak. "Right after Gene left a man in a black suit rented him and brought him upstairs like everyone does. But when he and all his buddies left the little guy, Jim you called him, didn't. I went up there and found him curled up on the floor naked." He pushed a door open, "We got him dressed in warmer clothes and put him in here, hoping someone would come for him. Every once in a while he cries out in his sleep, sounds like a name, but we don't know."

He opened the door enough for me to walk in. Jim lay there asleep. A purpling bruise stretched down the side of his face and his breaths were ragged. "Oh God, Jim," I breathed and ran to the bed, kneeling beside it. I ran my fingers softly down his bruised cheek. "Do you know if he's hurt real bad?"

The bar tender swallowed and sat in a chair he fetched from the corner. "He's covered in bruises. Probably has several cracked ribs. And he was raped, most likely more than once. Whether or not he was selling himself, there was no way he was willing when they laid him down. When I found him there was blood on the floor and the bed, as well as other places. Like I said, though, we cleaned him up."

"Oh, God," I breathed and took Jim's small hand in mine. "God you poor poor thing." I pressed kisses to his fingers and palm softly, hoping he would wake up, but at the same time knowing he was in less pain asleep.

XxXxX

He opened his eyes feeling someone affectionately kissing at his fingers. "Oh, God, why the hell won't you just go away?" he groaned, no longer caring if he got smacked for being rude.

"What, baby?" a soft voice asked and he saw that it wasn't Rob holding his hand but Kori.

"Kori?" he breathed, "Oh, God, Kori, please say it's you."

"It's me baby, it's me. How you feel?"

He groaned, wanting to sit up and fling his arms around her so he could cry, but the pains covering him wouldn't allow him. "I hurt all over," he answered.

"I bet," Kori breathed lifting him to her, holding his small body against her and burying her face in his hair.

The sobs came then, and there was nothing he could do to stop them. "I don't want to do it again, Kori, please I don't want to be taken again."

"Shhh," she soothed, stroking his back gently. "'s okay, love, nobody's going to make you." He just continued to sob into her chest, glad she was here to hold him. "I love you," she breathed in his ear.

XxXxX

I carried Jim out wrapped in a blanket to the car. He had fallen back asleep. I was about to pull out of the parking lot when the bar tender came running out.

"Here," he handed me a wad of bills. "I guess this was his payment. It was left in the room he was in."

"Thank you," I answered as he backed away from the car. "Oh! I'll bring the clothes and blanket back as soon as I wash them."

"Don't worry about it," he called as I pulled out.

"Thanks," I breathed. I owed the guy a whole lot after this was sorted out.

XxXxX

When I got home Sazuka was waiting for me. "Where's Gene?" she asked.

"The stupid bastard left with some chick and didn't come back," I answered venomously.

Then she saw Jim. "Oh my God," she exhaled, "What happened to him?"

"Gene didn't stick around to see who his buyer was. Apparently, Jim was had, or more precisely, raped, by a bunch of guys, according to the bartender. And he came out severely beaten," I answered, a lot of the previous venom still in my voice. "Anyway, I need you, Melfina, and Aisha to take him to the hospital."

"It won't take three of us to take him to the hospital," Sazuka pointed out.

"Oh, I know, but I want to greet Gene with no interruptions."

Sazuka would have demanded that she stay behind, but she knew Kori wouldn't kill Gene. She'd probably smack him around a bit, and she'd most definatly bite his head off, but he'd live.

Sazuka nodded and took Jim from me, calling to Melfina and Aisha as she went to the car.

"Thanks, Sazuka," I called to her as I went inside.

XxXxX

Gene got home and all the lights in the house were off. "Well that's odd," he muttered to himself. Everyone should have been home by now. He ignored the fact and saw the wad of money on the table. He whistled. 300 Wong; Jim had done well. "I told the little fellow he'd do well."

"How much did you make, you whore?" someone in the darkness snarled.

Gene didn't recognize the voice, and reached for his gun, then remembered he hadn't brought it with him. "Who's there?" he called.

"I'm crushed, you didn't recognize me," Kori purred standing up from where she had sat on the couch and walked toward him. "Now, answer the question."

Gene didn't like her tone. It sounded too harsh for Kori, so he tried to lighten the mood. "Well, you see Kori, it turned out that she was...a...working for pay too, so, I..."

"So you fucked her for free, just like always you slut," Kori snapped. "You saw a hot girl, screw the fact that you're supposed to be making money, screw the fact that you didn't wait for Jim get a job, **_screw the fact that you broke your promise to_** **_me_**," Kori snarled.

Now Gene knew what had happened, but before he could apologize, Kori had thrust her fist into his stomach. He gasped for breath and hunched over, just to time to have her foot follow fist and kick him in the head. He went sprawling across the floor unable to do anything because he could hardly see Kori dressed in all black in the darkness of the house.

He felt a foot jam itself into his side, then someone fell on top of him. In the dark all Gene could really see of Kori was her silver hoop earrings and her gleaming black eyes. She grabbed a fistful of his hair in one hand and slammed his head into the linoleum floor. He saw stars for several moments and then Kori spoke.

"You didn't wait for him to get a job!" She slammed his head against the floor. "You didn't even stay at the club!" Slam again. "You couldn't wait around to see if he was okay!" She slammed his head against the floor a third time. "And you wanna know what happened to him?" Gene felt cool tears fall onto his face. Her voice constricted for a moment with emotion and then she spoke. "He was raped...more than once as well as beaten. Thanks to the fact that you couldn't stick around he's in the hospital with several cracked ribs and most likely some internal damage!" With that she slapped him across the face hard enough that it sent his cheek smashing into the floor and gashed where her ring hit.

But Gene hardly noticed. He almost felt like he deserved twice the beating Kori had given him. Was Jim really hurt that bad all because he'd chosen a pretty girl over his promise? Kori was crying where she sat atop his chest, and every once in a while she managed to punch him half-heartedly.

Suddenly he sat up underneath her. She started, but didn't try to force him back. In the dark he could still see the glint of tears running down her face and reached out a gloved hand to brush them away. Kori looked up at him, her dark eyes glazed and swollen.

"I'm sorry," he told her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. "I'm so goddamned sorry." She yielded to his embrace, putting her arms around his waist and burying her face in his chest. "Shhh," he gently soothed away her tears.

XxXxX

Gene dropped Kori at the hospital then made his way to the club.

He opened the door. The small bell rang, but since it was hardly noon there was no one there but the bar tender. He looked up from where he sat at his cash register. "Hello, sir, how can I help you?"

"A friend of mine just came here to pick up Jim. I was wondering though, if you knew the name of the guy who bought him."

The bar tender looked up at him, met his eyes and knew exactly what Gene's intentions were. "You didn't hear it from me. His name is Robert Hillman. He's a regular around here. A rich son of a bitch too. He buys "presents" for the guys here on a regular basis, and then makes use of 'em himself. I'm afraid your partner's not the only one he's done this to."

"Thanks," Gene muttered, fingering his gun absently as he left.

XxXxX

He pulled up the expensive apartment complex and parked the car. Then he made his way up the stairs to the top floor where the luxurious penthouse of Robert Hillman was. He didn't even bother to knock, just kicked the door down.

The man sitting on the couch just sighed. "What?"

"I want to know what you did to my partner, you bastard," Gene snarled.

The man stood and walked around the table, martini glass in one hand. "Oh, you mean the little guy at the bar? I didn't mean to hurt him, really I didn't, but he kept fighting. He bit me more than once."

_Go Jim, _Gene thought. "I'm sure," Gene muttered. "But that's really not what I want to know. How many men had him, you pervert."

Robert sighed, "Only six. But I had him five times." He sighed, "He was such a tight fit, and even though he struggled, he made the most adorable noises, and the way he..."

Gene didn't let the perverted fantasy finish. He pulled out his gun and shot the bastard until he was out of bullets. Leaving the bloody carcass on the floor, he walked out, feeling he had at least partially avenged his friend's abuse.

He got in the car and made his way to the hospital to formally apologize to his partner.

ende

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I know, I know. It was really intense and nothing at all like the actual series, but I liked the idea so I went with it. It actually came from the conversation Jim and Gene had when they realized they needed money and didn't have any.

Oh, and much thanks to Gaby who proofread this for me!!! And if you readers find any other mistakes that I might have missed, please tell me. I know I'm a crappy typer, but I'm working on it, really!


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